Preview: West Ham v Southampton

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic is optimistic his team can turn around a run of four losses in five Premier League outings on Sunday against Southampton.

It has been something of a horror start to the season for the Hammers, who have conceded 13 goals in those five matches and were also knocked out of the Europa League by Romanian minnows Astra Giurgiu.

The club have gone so far as to postpone talks with Bilic over a new contract until he can convince them that he os able to turn things around.

The Croatian has been somewhat unfortunate in the early weeks of the campaign as a raft of injuries have hit his squad. For the clash with the Saints on Sunday, he will be without the injured Aaron Cresswell, Andre Ayew, Diafro Sakho, Andy Carroll and Arthur Masuaku.

Better news for United is that Winston Reid is expected to be fit for the clash after recovering from a recent minor knock.

Meanwhile, Southampton will visit London Stadium in confident mood – Claude Puel's men have won three matches in a row in all competitions without conceding a goal.

In addition, striker Charlie Austin is in prolific form having hit four goals in his last three appearances for the side from the south coast.

The Saints will be without two of the club's major recent signings, Sofiane Boufal and Jeremy Pied, who are both injured. Better news is that striker Jay Rodriguez could return if he shakes off a recent knock.

With that said, the visitors will visit the English capital with a mostly-fit squad and it could be a tough afternoon for hosts West Ham.

Nonetheless, Bilic remains hopeful his team can find some better form. "It would mean a lot to us to get the three points and it would boost the confidence and bring back the belief," he told the club's official website.

"Although it is very early on in the season it is still very important because we need the points."